


Rooks and Orchids

by MimiK



Category: ITV Victoria, ITV Victoria (2016), Victoria (TV)
Genre: F/M, Feelings, Romance, Vicbourne
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-13
Updated: 2016-09-13
Packaged: 2018-08-14 20:25:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8027797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MimiK/pseuds/MimiK
Summary: One-shot. Set during episode 4. After their conversation, Victoria left Lord Melbourne to propose to Albert. Reflection of Lord M's thoughts and feelings.





	Rooks and Orchids

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, it's sad.

_„Only a fool would turn you away, Ma’am.”_

 

This was the moment. He had known for quite some time that it would come. And yet, it came faster than expected.

When she turned away to go to the other, his heart broke into a thousand pieces.

This was the moment. She would go to the man, the one who now owned her heart, and would asked him to become her husband.

Did he remember with satisfaction that this other man was her second choice only? He listened to his inner voice for a moment. No or at least only vaguely. She had asked him first, yes, but then… She had given up on him so easily soon after the clockwork prince’s arrival.

He felt like one of her dolls. Put away in a box and forgotten.

Deep inside him regret, his old companion, stirred. He regretted many things in life. A lot of them involved Caroline and his previous boy, his son. The most recent wound, however, was the refusal of his queen’s proposal.

He had to reject her, hadn’t he? _“Yes, I had to.”_ His voice sounded shallow in the empty corridor. The steely determination faded away from one second to the next. He cleared his throat.

After their meeting in Brocket Hall, he had done silly things. He didn’t want to give up their intimacy, their special moments. But knowing that she was not only the queen, but a young woman, somehow still a girl, he was aware how deep his refusal had hurt her. He had tried to heal that wounds by giving her as much attention as possible.

He had sent her orchids, the most precious things from the glasshouse of Brocket Hall. While doing this he had tried to tell her what he felt, but couldn’t tell her by words. Did she understand?

She had certainly understood his appearance as Leicester, his allusions about companionship. But it had been what she had wanted or deeply desired.

His feelings for her were most inappropriate. But he couldn’t help. Standing close beside her in the park of Brocket Hall, holding her hands so tiny, so precious and… yes, nearly placing a kiss on her delicate lips, all this had made him feel happier than ever. Happy after all, but for a short while only.

The moment had faded. It had vanished with his answer. He had known that he had lost everything, while he had watched her walking away.

Giving his gardenias to Coburg prince, was the first sign that she had been fallen for the young man deeply. Perhaps she had not known this in particular moment, but he had noted. In this second she had forgotten not only him, but every other person in the room.

He loved her.

Yes, he did. He loved her with every fibre of my heart. But he had to give this away, because she was the monarch. She was not meant for him alone, but for the whole country. As sad as the future and his empty heart would make him.

She would hopefully find the appropriate companion in the young man, who smiled so rarely. It was the right choice, no matter, what he felt and how much it hurt.

Rooks mate for life.

_Did you ever listen to their sad tune, when they mourn, my queen?_


End file.
